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This is a list of heads of state of theRepublic of Croatia, since theindependence of Croatia.
Historically, the republican system was introduced in theSocialist Republic of Croatia while it was a constituent republic of theSFR Yugoslavia, and its head of state is discussed in the history ofpolitics of the Socialist Republic of Croatia.
Since 1990, thePresident of the Republic of Croatia (Predsjednik) is directly elected to a five-year term and islimited to a maximum of two terms. However, with theConstitution of 2001, the powers of the President (much expanded in 1990) were now again severely curtailed, as Croatia shifted from asemi-presidential system, to an incompleteparliamentary system. As in most parliamentary systems, the President is now by-and-large a ceremonial office, with the Prime Ministerde facto heading the executive branch.
Source:[1]
On 30 May 1990 Franjo Tuđman was elected by Parliament as thePresident of the Presidency of the Socialist Republic of Croatia, then still a constituent republic of theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and held office together with several Vice Presidents of the Presidency of SR Croatia. The collective presidency was reduced to seven members on 25 July 1990 and the name of the constituent Yugoslav republic was changed to theRepublic of Croatia by removing the wordSocialist from its name and the names of its institutions. The collective presidency was abolished in favor of the post ofPresident of the Republic of Croatia with the adoption of a new constitution on 22 December 1990. The Croatian Parliament then declared independence on 25 June 1991, when Tuđman formally became the first president of an independent Croatian nation under the name theRepublic of Croatia.
(*)The constitutional amendments of November 2000 abandoned asemi-presidential system for aparliamentary system (with a directly elected president) and also made the presidency a non-partisan office, meaning that even if they are elected to office as a candidate of a particular political party, the president must resign membership in that party before taking office.
Social Democratic Party of Croatia (2)
Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats (1)
| No. | Picture | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Election | Political party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Term start | Term end | |||||
| 1 |  | Franjo Tuđman (1922–1999) | — | 30 May 1990 | 12 August 1992 | — | Croatian Democratic Union |
| 1 | 12 August 1992 | 11 August 1997 | 1992 (56.73%) | ||||
| 2 | 12 August 1997 | 10 December 1999 † | 1997 (61.41%) | ||||
| Parliament elected him thePresident of the Presidency of SR Croatia in May 1990, but with the adoption of a new constitution on 22 December 1990, the title of the office was changed toPresident of the Republic of Croatia and thePresidium of Croatia (Presidency) was abolished. Tuđman presided overthe period when Croatia gained independence and ultimately joined theUnited Nations in May 1992. Tuđman won re-election to ade facto second and third term in1992 and1997, winning election outright both times without the need for a run-off. He is the only president to have been elected in the first round of elections. He died in office in December 1999. | |||||||
| — |  | Vlatko Pavletić (1930–2007) | — | 10 December 1999 | 2 February 2000 | Acting President | |
| Tuđman was incapacitated since 26 November 1999 and died on 10 December 1999. Pavletić became acting president asSpeaker of the Croatian Parliament. He was succeeded byZlatko Tomčić when the 4th Assembly of Parliament was replaced by the 5th Assembly after the2000 election. | |||||||
| — | .jpg) | Zlatko Tomčić (1945–) | — | 2 February 2000 | 18 February 2000 | Acting President | Croatian Peasant Party |
| Became acting president asSpeaker of Parliament when the 4th Assembly of Parliament (1995-2000) was replaced by the 5th Assembly (2000–2003). Served untilStjepan Mesić was sworn in as the new president on 18 February 2000. | |||||||
| 2 | _(cropped).jpg) | Stjepan Mesić (1934–) | 3 | 19 February 2000 | 18 February 2005 | 2000 (56.01%) | Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats* (formallyindependent) |
| 4 | 19 February 2005 | 18 February 2010 | 2005 (65.93%) | ||||
| He defeatedDražen Budiša in the2000 presidential elections. He was the first president with reduced powers, as thesemi-presidential system was replaced by an incompleteparliamentary system in November 2000. Mesić was re-elected in2005, defeatingJadranka Kosor in a landslide. | |||||||
| 3 |  | Ivo Josipović (1957–) | 5 | 19 February 2010 | 18 February 2015 | 2009–10 (60.26%) | Social Democratic Party* (formallyindependent) |
| He defeatedMilan Bandić by a wide margin in the2010 election. He was narrowly defeated byKolinda Grabar-Kitarović in his re-election bid in 2015. | |||||||
| 4 | .jpg) | Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović (1968–) | 6 | 19 February 2015 | 18 February 2020 | 2014–15 (50.74%) | Croatian Democratic Union* (formallyindependent) |
| She defeated incumbent presidentIvo Josipović in the second round of the2015 election. She is thefirst female president since independence and also the youngest, aged 46. She was defeated byZoran Milanović in her reelection bid in 2020. | |||||||
| 5 | _(cropped).jpg) | Zoran Milanović (1966–) | 7 | 19 February 2020 | 18 February 2025 | 2019–20 (52.66%) | Social Democratic Party* (formallyindependent) |
| 8 | 19 February 2025 | Incumbent | 2024–25 (74.68%) | ||||
| Milanović defeated incumbent presidentKolinda Grabar-Kitarović in the second round of the2020 election. He was re-elected in2025, defeatingDragan Primorac in a landslide. Milanović became the first president to win a second term since Stjepan Mesić in 2005. | |||||||
A –Acting President
(**) From the abolishment of the collective Presidency of the Republic of Croatia on 22 December 1990
Preceded bypresidents of the Presidency of SR Croatia(1945–1990) | ||
| Presidents(since 1991) |  | |
